LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Eight years have passed since the murder of Robert Cowan Jr., and his family continues to seek justice as still, no charges have been filed.
Davita Gatewood, the mother of Cowan's now 26-year-old son, remains steadfast in her pursuit of answers, not just for Cowan’s case, but for over 100 unsolved cases in the city.
In January 2017, Cowan was shot outside of a Lexington motorcycle club.
"At a time that my son should be celebrating his senior year of high school, he was helping to plan a funeral," Gatewood said.
Over 3,000 days later, the family has yet to find closure.
Last year, the Lexington Police Department launched a website dedicated to cold cases in hopes of collecting anonymous tips. Among the roughly 135 names listed is Robert Cowan Jr.
Gatewood has expressed concerns about limited communication from detectives.
"This is all too common where survivors don't hear from the detectives at all except for on the scene of a homicide," she said.
The department confirmed a detective is assigned to Cowan’s case, following up on leads.
A department spokesperson also commented on the site dedicated to cold cases in a statement:
"The department’s Unsolved Homicide Website has led to an increase of information being submitted for unsolved homicide cases. Detectives have followed up on that information, which has been useful to further investigations."
Community advocate Deana Mullins, who lost her son to gun violence, also emphasized the need for a trauma-informed network when dealing with families of victims.
"We need to bring our community back and show it love and show the healing, and help our our neighbors heal in these situations," Mullins said.
Gatewood believes that the key to solving Cowan’s case lies in community action, encouraging individuals to share information that may aid in achieving justice.
"How can we say we have love for our community members when we hold on to information that could help get them justice? That's not love," she said.
Gatewood hopes for stronger collaboration between the community and law enforcement to remove names from the cold case list, allowing families to focus on mourning rather than seeking justice.
If you have information about an unsolved homicide case, you can contact Lexington Police at (859) 258-3600.
You can also sumbit a tip anonymously to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers at (859) 253-2020 or online.
